SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not seen Better Call Saul Season 6 Episode 11, titled “Breaking Bad.”
“Better Call Saul” fans have been waiting more than seven years for the Bob Odenkirk-led series to intersect with the world of Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul). This week’s episode of the spinoff, aptly titled “Breaking Bad,” gave viewers all that and more.
The episode goes back and forth between a black-and-white timeline that includes Gene Takovich in Omaha, Saul’s face after “Breaking Bad,” and Saul Goodman’s world within “Breaking Bad” Season 2. Unfortunately, Jimmy McGill and Kim Wexler ( Rhea Seehorn) remain in the past (at least for now).
In Gene’s timeline, our favorite Cinnabon manager relives his days in Albuquerque, setting up yet another scheme with cab driver Jeffy (Pat Healy), who recognized Gene from his days as Saul. Together, they gather enough personal information to steal the identities of a few dozen dudes, but it’s clear that Gene/Saul/Jimmy isn’t really in it for the rewards, but because he misses the “game.” In last week’s episode, “Nippy,” Gene arranges a small department store robbery for Jeffy in exchange for him keeping quiet about his true identity. This time, Jean is in it for the thrill.
In the “Breaking Bad” Season 2 flashback, Saul is tied up in a recognizable, bullet-riddled RV before being dragged outside to a shallow grave by two mysterious men. “Oh, no, no, no!” he pleads. “It wasn’t me, it was Ignacio! He’s the one!” We’ve seen this exact scene before, in a Season 2 episode of “Breaking Bad” titled “Better Call Saul,” when Albuquerque’s most notorious meth chefs meet their criminal attorney for the first time. Then it was a throwaway line. Now, six seasons into the spinoff with the dramatic death of Nacho (Michael Mando) still fresh in our minds, it puts everything into context and locks the two series into place. During its run, “Better Call Saul” served as a prequel that also teased the implications of “Breaking Bad.” At this point, though, the two series are running concurrently.
Walt and Jesse first met Saul in “Breaking Bad” because he represented one of their dealers, Jesse’s friend Badger, who was arrested for dealing meth. Afraid that Badger will turn Heisenberg (aka Walt) over to the DEA, Walt walks into Saul’s office posing as Badger’s uncle and offers him $10,000 to advise Badger to keep quiet. Saul kicked him out because of the bribe. As a last resort, Walt and Jesse kidnap Saul and intimidate him into the desert, assuring him that he will advise the Badger to keep quiet. They wear ski masks to conceal their identities, but Saul recognizes Walt’s cough and insists that he and Jesse put a dollar each in his pocket…you know, for attorney-client privilege. In the end, Saul agrees not to make a deal with the DEA.
Now, in the Better Call Saul flashback, we’re given a new scene that unfolds as the trio re-enters the van and we finally see Walt and Jesse’s faces (13 years after Cranston and Paul first filmed this pivotal sequence). . Saul admires the makeshift meth lab and correctly guesses that Walt is actually Heisenberg. Walt and Jesse fight (oh, how I’ve missed “Breaking Bad”), and Saul, minutes after being held at gunpoint, gives them a firm grip on his restraint. After a moment of silence, Jesse asks Saul, “Who’s Lalo?”
In the “Breaking Bad” version of the scare scene, Saul asks Walt and Jesse if Lalo sent them. Then Lalo was just a random name too, not the infamous Salamanca villain we fear in Better Call Saul. The lawyer pauses for a moment—perhaps reflecting on how he represents Lalo, carrying his bail money across the desert, the failed assassination attempt, the fraud against Howard, Lalo’s surprise visit, Howard’s murder, Kim’s loss—and then simply answers : “No one is. “
Later in the episode, Saul sits in his office with Mike (Jonathan Banks), who gives him information about his prospective clients. “Even if that man lived, I wouldn’t go near him. He’s a complete amateur,” Mike says of Walt. “If cancer doesn’t catch him, it’s going to be the cops or a bullet to the head.”
“I have a feeling about it,” Sol replies. “This Heisenberg has something. It’s a top-of-the-line product, it’s the buzz on the street, and I just think with the right management…” But Mike cuts him off. “Leave it,” he says. Ignoring his advice, Saul arrives at JP Wynne High School, where Walt teaches chemistry. He heads to the science building, but that’s all we get in this episode. It doesn’t matter, of course. We know what’s coming next.
Lest we forget, at the beginning of this bombshell episode is Gene’s conversation with Francesca (Tina Parker), his former secretary. Some time has passed since the events of “Breaking Bad” and the spinoff movie “El Camino,” so Francesca (who is now a landlord helping her 20-year-old tenants unclog their sink) updates Gene on the statuses of his friends and former co-workers back in Albuquerque. Here’s what we learn:
- Things have cooled down, but Francesca is still stalked from time to time. She says her mail is open and her home phone is tapped. “Skyler White made his deal, so the only ones left to chase are you and Pinkman,” she tells Jean, “and I heard they found his car down by the border.” Francesca actually means Skinny’s car Pete, the Ford Thunderbird that Badger drives to the Mexican border in “El Camino” to throw out the cops. As far as we know, Jesse is living peacefully in Alaska after escaping the Nazi compound and starting a new life, via Ed the Vanishing.
- Cops are still looking for Saul Goodman.
- The feds discovered the nail salons, slot machines, and laser tag arena that Walt, Jesse, and Sol used to launder money.
- When asked how Saul’s henchman Patrick Cubby (Bill Burr) is doing, Francesca says, “I have no idea,” but she says that Huell Babineau (Lavel Crawford) is back home in New Orleans. Apparently he left because the DEA was holding him under false pretenses.
- Bill Oakley (Peter Dissett), the district attorney who appears in Better Call Saul, has “switched sides” and become a defense attorney.
- At some point, Kim called Francesca to check on her and asked about Jimmy and if he was alive. Francesca says she hasn’t told Kim anything about Jimmy’s current whereabouts (or new identity).
This latest realization encourages Gene to call Kim, who we learn is now working in Titusville, Florida, presumably not as an attorney since she gave up her license. We hear no sound of their conversation, and it’s unclear if they connect at all. But whatever is happening on the other line upsets Gene, who slams the phone into the dial pad and kicks the payphone’s glass booth until it shatters.
There are two episodes of Better Call Sol and we haven’t seen Kim since Jimmy left, so we’re hoping for a black and white happily ever after.
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